


You Got Me and It's Right Where I Should Be

by clarkjoekent



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Inoichi's parents are awful, M/M, Mild Body Shaming, Shikaku wants to Commit Murder, mild sexism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28543593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarkjoekent/pseuds/clarkjoekent
Summary: Inoichi falls victim to a sappy mishap forcing Shikaku to do something Inoichi nearly begged him not to just to save his life.
Relationships: Nara Shikaku/Yamanaka Inoichi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	You Got Me and It's Right Where I Should Be

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I love these two tired dudes. I defiantly also projected on Inoichi. 
> 
> The ages are pretty close to canon so Inoichi is 22, Shikaku is 21, and Kakashi is 13.

“You should wear it up in a bun. So it doesn’t get like this again.” Shikaku muttered as he cut the sap off the ends of his best friend’s long blonde ponytail. The Yamanaka made a mistake and got too close to the leaking trees. He lost two inches off his ponytail and Shikaku is trying hard not to shorten it any more. 

“I forgot this area had trees like this.” Special protective sap used to trap intruders sneaking around and stealing crops and animals from the town on the edge of the Land of Fire. If it touched skin they could be paralyzed and death within an hour. 

“You’re lucky it’s just your hair.” Choza sighed, the man was antsy and wanted to move away from the area, but Inoichi was still attached to the tree. He begged Shikaku to save what he could but the kunai wasn’t precise. It looked like hell. 

“Inoichi stop jerking, I’m almost done.” Shikaku got the last piece and made sure all of the sap was out of his hair before he put his kunai away. 

The Yamanaka moved his ponytail to the front and gasped at how much had to be removed. “Shikaku, I thought you were saving it.” 

“I tried, but the kunai wasn’t super sharp and every minute we spend here is a minute closer to us being caught.” The Nara huffed and walked ahead of the team, Choza hot on his trail. 

“Damn.” Inoichi couldn’t stop looking at the jagged ends of his hair. He tried to comb it out but there were more sap coated chunks so he had to leave it alone until they got back to Konoha. 

“Good work, I’m glad our relationship with Suna is better.” Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, eyeing the disgruntled Yamanaka. “You’ll have the next few days off.” 

InoShikaCho bowed and left the office. As soon as the door shut Inoichi was whining. 

“I need to get this evened out.” 

“I told you to wear it up.” 

“I didn’t think you would make it look this bad.” 

“What the fuck else do you want from me? All I had was a kunai!” Shikaku whipped around and shoved Inoichi. “I should’ve left you there.” The Nara snarled. 

“You wouldn’t do that because we are a team.” Poor Choza tried to diffuse the situation only to get a glare from both angry men. 

“Maybe you should be more prepared.” 

“Oh I’m sorry that you value your fucking hair over dying I’ll remember that for the next time your dumb ass gets caught in a trap.” Shikaku turned on his heels and left the Yamanaka to stew in his anger. 

Shikaku stormed into his home and let out a frustrated scream. It ricocheted off the empty walls and back to the Nara. 

“Asshole.” Shikaku leaned back against the front door and sighed. Inoichi never listened to him and they always end missions being pissed off at each other. Sakumo was the glue that held them together but now that he’s gone, they had nothing. “Bastard.” The Nara shook his head and went about the rest of his day trying to forget about his fallen sensei and his deteriorating friendship. 

He had more important things to worry about. He had just moved into a nice house and he had unpacking to do. 

After opening several boxes but not moving anything out of them he resigned and left his house in search of someone who usually made his mood better. 

* * *

“I need a trim.” Inoichi was barely two feet into Tsume’s house before he was already asking her a favor. 

“Looks jacked up. What happened?” 

“Shikaku.”

“Oh he finally had enough of your Princely rich kid attitude and gave you the chop?” Tsume snorted and mimicked scissor gestures at the Yamanaka. 

“No I was caught in sap and he messed my hair up.” Inoichi chose to ignore Tsume’s remark about being royal. 

“Well, sit and I’ll even it out.” She sounded like she was stifling another laugh. She put gloves on so she wouldn’t touch the deadly sap and got to work. When she finished, she didn’t want to tell him she had to cut 5 more inches off. “You had sap all the way up to your shoulders bud. I had to add layers so I could avoid cutting more than what I had to.” 

Inoichi brought his hand back and felt the length. A panic attack was brimming. “Stupid fucking sap. I hate this.” The Yamanaka knew his mother and father would say something snippy and underhanded when they saw the new cut and he didn’t want to go home and face them. 

Tsume sensed his frustration and put an arm around his shoulders. “You don’t look that bad.” 

Inoichi sighed. 

“It’s not Shikaku’s fault you lost this much hair. He’s been telling you -” Tsume began to sweep the sticky blonde hair int a pile.

“I know, to put it up or braid it.” Inoichi shook his head and stood up. “I think he’s really mad at me this time. I’ll just let him calm down before I visit him again.” 

Tsume rolled her eyes. “You two are impossible.” 

Inoichi thanked the Inuzuka before he left the warmth of her home. He trudged down the street and stopped in front of his house. He needed to muster up the strength to face his family. He was 22 years old and he still felt like he was treated like a child. He mentioned once to his parents that he was going to move out and they got offended. The passive aggressive comments got to him and he doubled back on freedom. 

As soon as he shut the front door his mother’s sickly sweet voice called out to him. 

“How was your mission, dear?” He can feel her scrutiny and she hasn’t even seen him yet. 

“It was mostly successful.” He tucked his short hair behind his ears and fiddled with the hair tie wrapped around his wrist contemplating on running past the kitchen to avoid being seen. Instead he took a deep breath and walked in. 

His mother’s back was facing him, his father sitting at the table looking over a scroll. He looked up and nearly choked on the tea he was sipping on. 

“What the hell happened to your hair?” 

“Oh honey, that doesn’t look good on you at all. Short hair makes your face look fat.” Inoichi’s mother tutted and touched the ends and then squeezed his cheek. “Your face is fat, what are you eating?” 

Inoichi jerked away from his mother. “I don’t think it looks that bad.” 

“No, not bad. Hideous.” She turned her perfect thin nose up at him and went back to making dinner. 

“Now you look ridiculous, like a girl.” His father’s blatant sexism always baffled Inoichi. His mother was a Jonin before his father and yet she had to give up her headband to cater to him. He thought all relationships were like this until he met Choza’s and Shikaku’s parents. 

“It’ll grow back.” 

“How did it even happen in the first place?” His father glared at him. Inoichi caved under the look. 

“I got my hair caught in sap and I had to cut it to get out.” He was hoping that he could just melt into the wall and disappear before they made another comment. A sigh of disgust was all he got in return. When Inoichi tried to leave the room and go to bed, his mother stopped him. 

“I’m waking you up early tomorrow so you can run laps.” She made a plate for his father and for herself but not for him. “Good night.” 

The conversation was over and they went back to ignoring him. Exactly how he liked it. 

* * *

“What are you doing?” Shikaku watched the small pug try and fail to jump onto the park bench. Pakkun snorted and looked at Shikaku like he should know the answer. The Nara picked the ninken up and placed him on the bench. 

“Kakashi is in the woods with Bull. She sniffed something and bolted.” Pakkun curled up and yawned. 

Shikaku sat down next to the dog and waited for the teenager to show up. 

Kakashi was covered head to toe in mud walking next to Bull who wore a huge grin. “It was a squirrel.” The Hatake wiped what mud he could off his arms and then plopped down on the other side of Pakkun. “How was your mission?” 

“Fine. Until Inoichi’s hair got caught in the sap and I had to cut it.” 

“So you guys are fighting again?” Kakashi was used to hearing them fight. Whenever InoShikaCho was over at the Hatake house Sakumo would be berating them about their arguing. Little Kakashi would watch. 

“I guess. I know he values his hair but I did it to save his life.” 

“You know, maybe he just can’t braid his own hair.” Kakashi shrugged. “I know you’ve been suggesting it but he always looks panicked when you mention braiding.” 

The Nara eyed the kid and then the big bulldog fighting her siblings for a turn to run into a puddle. “You might be onto something.” 

“I think I need a bath.” Kakashi tugged at his mud soaked pants legs and then stood up. “They need a bath too.” 

“Need help?” 

“Are you avoiding unpacking?” Kakashi knew Shikaku had to unpack and called him out in front of the most judgmental dog pack he’s ever seen. 

“Of course.” No point in lying. He smiled at the teenager who just looked disappointed. 

“Fine but only because I refuse to ask Gai for help.” Kakashi snapped his fingers and the dogs all stopped playing, running up to the kid with tongues wagging. “Let’s go home.” 

Shikaku ended up doing all the work bathing the dogs. Kakashi got home and took a quick shower so the dogs could use the tub. Unfortunately the Hatake failed to tell Shikaku that he just got back from a mission and was chakra exhausted. After the dogs were cleaned and fed, the Nara tucked Kakashi in his bed and let the ninken up on the bed. 

Making sure the door was locked to the Hatake house, Nara took off to the Yamanaka family home. It was late but it wouldn’t be the first time he snuck into the house through Inoichi’s window. He stopped off somewhere on the way and then took the less traveled trail to his friend’s house.

He walked around to the back of the massive house and peeked into his friend’s window. Inoichi was laying on his bed face down, his body trembling. His hair was far shorter than Shikaku had last seen. 

He tapped on the glass and Inoichi stilled. He turned to his side and locked eyes with the Nara. They were puffy and red. He was crying. Shikaku half expected Inoichi to ignore him but was surprised when he got on his knees and opened the window. 

“Be quiet, they just went to bed.” The blonde whispered. Shikaku nodded and lifted himself into the room, landing on the bed with a grunt. Inoichi made a few hand signs and sound sealed his room. 

“Sorry I pushed you.” The Nara was lying on his back looking up at Inoichi’s red face. 

“No, I took my mistake out on you. I’m sorry.” 

“What happened?” Shikaku was the only one in the entire village that knew about the mental torment Inoichi faced. He generally excuses some backlash and anger because he knows what it feels like to be trapped. 

“She called me fat.” Inoichi sighed. “She’s going to wake me up in the morning so I can run laps.” 

“Did you eat?” 

“No, she locked the fridge.” 

“Figured.” The Nara stood on the bed and reached his hand out the still open window. He had gone to Inoichi’s favorite restaurant and ordered a meal to go. He pulled the bag of food back through the window and then passed it to Inoichi. He shut the window and then flopped back on the bed on his back. 

“Thank you.” 

“What is her obsession?” 

“Who knows. Have you seen the way she looks at Choza?” Inochi pulled the top off a to-go container and ate the ramen as fast as he could. Shikaku squinted at his friends, annoyed at the situation. “I think she just wants us to be perfect and when something threatens to change that she takes it out on me.” 

“Move in with me. Fuck them.” 

Inoichi stopped chewing and rolled his eyes. “You know that will be hard right?” 

“I have a huge house with too many empty rooms. I got space for you.” 

“It’ll piss them off.” 

“They are pissing me off.” The Nara mumbled. He just wanted his friend to be happy and comfortable. 

Inoichi made a noncommittal sound and then finished scarfing down his food. There was a comfortable silence that finally settled between the two of them. Shikaku sat up and took his pelt vest and his chainmail shirt off. It was uncomfortable to sleep in. Inoichi discarded the to-go containers and then inched over to make room for Shikaku to lay next to him. 

“She’s going to come in here in the morning so you can’t stay.” The blonde muttered as he let Shikaku pull him closer to his body. 

“I know. I’ll be gone once you fall asleep.” 

The sounds of the two of them breathing filled the room, Shikaku closed his eyes and rested his forehead on Inoichi’s back. The blonde towered over him by a whole foot and yet he was always the one on the outside. 

Inoichi took a deep breath and then wiggled free from Shikaku, sitting up and giving him an odd look. 

“What’s wrong?” Shikaku didn’t sit up like the blonde, instead he just turned onto his back. 

“Did you mean what you said, about letting me move in?” 

“Yeah. I wouldn’t dangle that in front of you as a joke.” 

Inoichi looked at the closed door and then back at the Nara. “I love you, you know.” 

The Nara smiled softly, “I love you too.” 

“No I mean I  _ love _ you. I have for years.” Inoichi’s cheeks were red and Shikaku raised an eyebrow. 

“Okay.” The Nara sat up and rested a hand on the blonde’s thigh. It was warm and comforting. “And I’m telling you that I love you too.” 

The Yamanaka looked as if he was blinking back tears before he gently put his arms around Shikaku’s neck and kissed him. 

Inoichi tasted like ramen and his lips were soft and plump from being over bitten. Shikaku placed his hands on Inoichi’s hips and deepened the kiss. For a few minutes the world seemed to stop and Shikaku could feel the years of repressed love pour free from himself and Inoichi. 

When they separated Inoichi’s face was bright red, matching the tint on his lips. Shikaku smiled and rested his forehead on the partner’s. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Inoichi got off the bed and looked at the possessions he had. He glanced over his shoulder and Shikaku nodded, reading his mind. 

They didn’t sleep that night. Inoichi took the time to pack his things with Shikaku’s help. When his room was empty he wrote a note to his mother and left it on the bare bed. Shikaku removed the sound seal and they snuck out of the house through the window, right as the sun was peeking over the land. 

Shikaku walked into his home, hand in Inoichi’s. “I haven’t unpacked. At all.” 

The Yamanaka chuckled and walked further into the house. Their house. “Well, I can help.” 

For the first time in years Shikaku watched Inoichi smile, honestly and freely. 

“Good because I need it.” 

“Don’t I know that.” Inoichi wandered into the kitchen and set down his bags. He opened a box and began to pull dishes and pans out of it. It took only a few hours to make the house a home and they were exhausted. The adrenaline from the realization that they are living together wore off and they both fell into Shikaku’s bed in each other’s arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from the song "You Got Me." by Taking Back Sunday and every time I hear it I think about Shikaku and Inoichi.


End file.
